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40 BLUMEA Vol. 44, No. 1, 1999 Reviews M.D.DASSANAYAKE&W.D. CLAYTON(eds.): ARevisedHandbooktotheFloraof Ceylon. A.A.Balkema, Rotterdam.TheNetherlands, 1998.390pp., ISBN 90-5410- 270-5. Price: NLG 170. This newvolumeofthe HandbookoftheFloraofCeylon dealswith:Acanthaceae byL.H.Cramer; RubiaceaebyC.E.Ridsdale;Sapindaceae by B.M.Wadhwa&Willem Meijer. Eachtreatment includes: Family description, keys to thegeneraandspecies, andwiththetaxa: accepted name, synonym(s), description, andnotes on distribution, ecology, andspecimens seen.On thelastpage alistofnewnames is given. However, thereare noindices to scientific namesand specimens. Thetaxonomyofthetreatedgeneraandspecies seems tobeupto date.Onlyafew minorerrors havebeennoted.Afewillustrations, especially ofkey characters, would havebeen helpful. However, thisis ausefulbookonthefloraofSri Lanka.Itshould gotothebookshelvesofthose interestedinthefloraofthatisland. Frits Adema JACQUESFLORENCE: Flore delaPolynesie francais,Vol. 1.ORSTOM. Paris, 1997. 393pp., illus.ISBN 2-7099-1387-4.Price: FRF 100. FrenchPolynesia comprises theislandgroupsAustral, Society, Tuamotu,Gambier andMarquesas, withatotallandareaofc. 3500km2.Thehighestpointis MtOrohena on Tahiti(2241 m).The first volumeoftheFloraofthisarea includesall indigenous andnaturalisedspeciesofthefollowing families:Cannabaceae,Cecropiaceae, Euphor- biaceae, Moraceae, Piperaceae, Ulmaceaeand Urticaceae. The treatments contain keys, descriptions,literatureandnotes onphenology, distribution,ecologyandvernac- ularnames. Inanintroductory chapter briefnotes aregiven onexploration, floraandvegetation ofthevarious islandgroups. Theflora ispoor (912 species onp.7, 675 species on p. 8) but relatively rich in endemics especially on Marquesas and Rapa. An index, glossary andlistofcollectionscompletes thevolume, whichformsafirststeptowards abetterknowledge oftheseremote andfascinating islandgroupsinthePacific. Personally IregretthattheCook Islandsare notincludedsincethey arephytogeo- graphically partofSEPolynesia. The photographs arerather small, but printing andexecutionare good as is tobe expected froman ORSTOM publication, with whichauthor andpublisher are tobe complimented. Ilook forwardtoseeing thenext volume(s). M.M.J.van Balgooy
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